StockNews.com Begins Coverage on Barnes & Noble Education (NYSE:BNED)

Equities researchers at StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Barnes & Noble Education (NYSE:BNED – Get Rating) in a note issued to investors on Thursday. The brokerage set a “hold” rating on the specialty retailer’s stock.

Separately, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $4.00 target price on shares of Barnes & Noble Education in a research report on Friday, March 10th.

Barnes & Noble Education Trading Down 10.4 %

Shares of Barnes & Noble Education stock opened at $1.81 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $2.13 and a 200-day moving average of $2.31. The stock has a market cap of $95.21 million, a PE ratio of -1.41 and a beta of 2.06. Barnes & Noble Education has a 52-week low of $1.38 and a 52-week high of $4.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 1.30.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Covestor Ltd acquired a new position in Barnes & Noble Education in the first quarter valued at about $27,000. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Barnes & Noble Education in the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Laurion Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Barnes & Noble Education in the second quarter valued at about $43,000. State of Wyoming raised its stake in Barnes & Noble Education by 489.3% in the fourth quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 15,304 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 12,707 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in Barnes & Noble Education in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 43.64% of the company’s stock.

About Barnes & Noble Education

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Barnes and Noble Education, Inc engages in the management and operation of bookstore chains in universities. It operates through the following segments: Retail, Wholesale, and Digital Student Solutions (DSS). The Retail segment operates physical and virtual campus bookstores. The Wholesale segment sells hardware and software that provides inventory management and point-of-sale solutions to college bookstores.